Brian JohnsonChairman & Philosopher in Residence at Heroic

How to deal with impostor syndrome.

26 Apr 2023 · 1 min

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Brian Johnson gives practical, first-person advice for coping with impostor syndrome: stop pretending, accept imperfection, rely on consistent daily effort (energy, work, love), and use the inner critical voice as a cue to breathe, reframe, and act. He frames imperfection as normal and recommends a protocol/commitment to showing up and doing the work despite self-doubt.

Chapters

The way to deal with feeling like an imposter who's posing is don't pose, don't pretend to be anything other than who you are. So you know, my source of confidence is I am who I am. I know I'm not perfect. And I also know that I show up and I do the work, however imperfectly, day in and day out. And I know that's the best I can possibly do. I decided this is me at my best right now. Energy, work, and love. I've got my protocol, I've got my commitment to hitting those targets, knowing I'm never going to be perfect. This idea that you have to be perfect before you can put yourself out is certainly part of the imposter syndrome, but we all know know that's silly. Like, you've been around the block enough times to know that's not quite how it works. And then when you hear the voice, let that be a trigger, a cue, a prompt to take a deep breath, to flip the switch, to thank Pardex Resistance the Demon for giving you an opportunity to practice your philosophy and go do what needs to get done.